Fisher Price Castle

Fisher-Price Castle first appeared in 1974 and was brought back 14 years later in 1988 with only minor differences. It is the heaviest of all the original Fisher-Price sets and the most expensive to produce. (1)
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This set is model number 933 which appears on the castle. The biggest difference between the 1974 and 1988 version is the banner on the right tower.

The original castle has pink banner that says “Play Family Castle.”

The 1988 castle has a pink banner with a pink dragon.

A few other differences were in the characters, the 1974 little people had wood bodies and plastic heads while the 1988 people were all plastic. 
Unlike other sets, almost all of the accessories are exclusive to this set except the horses. The castle is made of plastic, cardboard and lithographic labels. (2)
It came with the following accessories:

• Pink dragon
• 2 horses, brown with a black mane and black with a white mane
• King and queen (purple bodies, yellow crowns)
• Prince and princess (blue bodies, yellow crowns)
• Knight, plastic in both versions, silver body and helmet
• Woodsman with feather engraved in his hat. He featured a star like collar in the 1974 version and a scarf and in the 1988 version. 
• Carriage (yellow and white) with horse yoke (yellow)
• Horse Blanket that holds rider (white)
• Table with sticker food and 4 chairs (red in 1974, yellow in 1988)
• One bed for two people (yellow with red sticker blanket in 1974, red in 1988)
• Two single beds (yellow with red sticker blanket in 1974, red in 1988)

The castle itself has:

• Trap door
• Drawbridge
• Sliding stars
• Flag on a spring (only in the 1974 version)
• Dragon’s lair
• Dungeon

The lithographs have lots of fun pictures including mice, vines and flowers going up the tower, dogs and puppies, owl, turtle and some eyes peeking out of a door, and lots more!

According to Antique Mall it is the second rarest Fisher-Price play set and goes for about $299 complete with box.
The complete set has recently sold (Sept 2022) for $220 including shipping and the castle only has sold for $60-$70 including shipping.  (3)​

Want to learn more about Fisher-Price items? There is a club!
Fisher price collector’s club: https://www.fpclub.org/index.html

I am selling mine here! Choose your favorite vendor: 
(prices differ based on seller fees.)
Castle only:
SOLD

Queen only:
SOLD

​ Pay only $45 for the castle and $10 for the queen and avoid shipping and fees. Check out where I'll be here 
​(If it doesn't sell before then)

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Fisher-Price

Fisher-Price has an interesting history. It was started in 1930 by four people, Irving Price and his wife Margaret Evans-Price, Herman Fisher and Helen Schelle. Fisher-Price has created over 5,000 different toys since it’s beginning. ​(4)

Irving Price was born in Worcester, Massachusetts September 21, 1884 and was an executive at Woolworth. He retired at an early age anc became mayor of East Auora, New York. He took an interest in Herman Fisher’s enterprise and invested $100,000. He died November 23, 1976 at the age of 92. (5)

Margaret Evans Price and Irving Price married on February 23, 1909. She was born March 20, 1888. She came from a wealthy New York family. At the age of 12 she sold her first illustrated story to the Boston Journal. She continued her art in both her education and career, graduating from Massachuetts Normal Art School and Boston Academy of Fine Arts. ​

She is the illustrator and author of numerous books. Her book characters became the inspiration for early Fisher-Price toys. She died on November 20, 1973, just three years prior to her husband almost to the day, at the age of 85. (6)
​You can view her works here:

• https://www.brwnpaperbag.com/2017/04/13/tbt-margaret-evans-price/
• https://theauroratheatre.com/about/margaret-evans-price-mural/
• https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/410153.Margaret_Evans_Price

Herman Fisher was born in Unionville, Pennsylvania on November 2, 1898. He served in the ROTC and graduated from Pennsylvannia State University. He worked for a company called All Fair, Inc. that produced toys, games and playing cards. After his offer to buy this company out was rejected, he set out to start his own. He died on September 26, 1975 at the age of 76. (7)

Helen M. Shelle was the completion of this quartet and unfortunately, her namesake was not included in the enterprise. She was born in Piqua, Ohio on January 14, 1893. As an adult she moved to New and founded Penny Walker Toy Shop. She partnered with Herman Fisher and Irving Price to found Fisher-Price. She died on April 12, 1984 at the age of 91. (8)

Insterstingly, Fisher-Price was started during the Great Depression, so while money was tight they persevered. They introduced their company They didn’t make a profit until 1936, 6 years after they began the company. The profit was $3,000 which all went to the employees at the time. (9)
Margaret and Helen worked together to design many of the company’s early toys.  The toys were made primarily from steel, ponderosa pine and lithographic labels. Their first toy was Dr. Doodle, a pull-toy duck, in 1931. He was brought, along with 15 other toys to American International Toy Fair in New York City.  The toy that finally turned them into profitable business Snoopy Sniffer in 1938. It wasn’t until the 1960’s that the “little people” were introduced. (10)

Dr. Doodle

Snoopy Sniffer

In researching about the beginnings of Fisher-Price, I found out that I am related to both Irving Price and Herman Fisher through two different lineages! They are both my 6th cousin 3 times removed. (11)